There's a stranger in a car
Driving down your street
Acts like he knows who you are
Slaps his hand on the empty seat and says
"Are you gonna get in
Or are you gonna stay out?"
Just a stranger in a car
Might be the one they told you about

Well you never were one for cautiousness
You open the door
He gives you a tender kiss
And you can't even hear them no more
All the voices of choices
Now only one road remains
And strangers in a car
Two hearts
Two souls
Tonight
Two lanes

You don't know where you're goin'
You don't know what you're doin'
Hell it might be the highway to heaven
And it might be the road to ruin
But this is a song
For strangers in a car
Baby maybe that's all
We really are
Strangers in a car
(Driving down your street)
Just strangers in a car
(Driving down your street)
Strangers in a car

General CommentI found this explanation on a marc cohn forum:
"I do recall with certainty Marc explaining that the song came about from a dream he was having where someone was abducted. He woke and went straight to the piano where the wonderful chords progression emerged. He then started singing the song and wrote the lyrics in about 20 minutes."

I'm not a fan of marc cohn, but this song is one of my all time favourites...

General Commenti can't believe there are so few comments on this song. from the moment my boyfriend played it me, i've loved it and it is in my opinion one of the best songs ever written. the chord progression is amazing, and the way he changes it on the "intense" moments from D/F G to G D is fantastic. ilove the lyrics because they could apply to so many things, such as two lovers and how no one really knows what will happen - "You don't know where you're goin'
You don't know what you're doin'
Hell it might be the highway to heaven
And it might be the road to ruin"

"Baby maybe that's all
We really are" - this line is delivered so emotionally and together with the music, it moves me to tears every time i hear it. i love this song.

General CommentxUnbreakablex, I agree that this song is underrated. I'm a big Cohn fan, especially of his latest and his very early works. This song means so much to me, no matter what inspired it. I think it is such a beautiful song and I find that every time I hear it, it evokes such strong emotions in me.

I always thought (even though he made a comment about an abduction, which casts quite a different light on things) that this was about taking a chance on someone, taking a chance on that stranger who "might be the one they told you about." For me, it is about that person always standing in the background, who knows you so well, and all that it would take was taking that leap, trusting that the person will be there to catch you. I also think that his line at the end, "Baby, maybe that's all we really are," is a dooming of the relationship--he realizes that maybe this love that seemed to fated isn't going to happen; that maybe it is meant to be but people's fears hold them back, so they are left with just two hearts and souls on different paths.

General CommentMan, comments around here are sparse! This song needs some more love.

To me, as to other people on here, this song is largely about taking risks in life. You have lots of choices to make in your life, but you can't choose all of them. You have to take a chance and make a singular choice, the "one road".

The part about "...that's all we really are: strangers in a car" means to me that we're all in the same boat, so to speak. We don't really know many other people in this world as we drift along in our lives and most of us are strangers to each other, but we're all human beings who have choices to make and lives to lead.